Lead Story
UK maternal RSV vaccine halves newborn intensive care admissions
The UK Health Security Agency's RSV annual report, published August 13, 2026, found that infant intensive-care admissions for confirmed RSV chest infections fell 50% in the 2025-2026 winter, from 131 cases the previous winter to 63, across a surveillance network of 20 NHS trusts. The drop follows the maternal RSV vaccination programme introduced in September 2024, which offers pregnant women a vaccine from 28 weeks that passes protective antibodies to the baby through the placenta; 61.7% of women giving birth between March 2025 and February 2026 received it. Earlier UKHSA research presented at the ESCMID conference found maternal vaccination provides over 80% protection against hospital admission for newborns, and the programme has also been linked to fewer emergency department visits for bronchiolitis, a common RSV-driven lung infection.
Read more →Lead Story
UK maternal RSV vaccine halves newborn intensive care admissions
The UK Health Security Agency's RSV annual report, published August 13, 2026, found that infant intensive-care admissions for confirmed RSV chest infections fell 50% in the 2025-2026 winter, from 131 cases the previous winter to 63, across a surveillance network of 20 NHS trusts. The drop follows the maternal RSV vaccination programme introduced in September 2024, which offers pregnant women a vaccine from 28 weeks that passes protective antibodies to the baby through the placenta; 61.7% of women giving birth between March 2025 and February 2026 received it. Earlier UKHSA research presented at the ESCMID conference found maternal vaccination provides over 80% protection against hospital admission for newborns, and the programme has also been linked to fewer emergency department visits for bronchiolitis, a common RSV-driven lung infection.
New York City on pace for fewest rat sightings since the pandemic
New York City rat sightings fell 22% in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, putting the city on track for its lowest reported rat-sighting total since the pandemic, according to Sanitation Department data reported August 22, 2026. Reported sightings have now fallen year-over-year every month since November 2024, credited to the city's containerized-trash push begun under former mayor Eric Adams' 2022 "war on rats," which aims to cut off the food waste rodents rely on. A 2025 pilot that installed roughly 1,100 shared Empire Bins in West Harlem's Community Board 9 saw an even steeper 34% drop in reported sightings in that containerized area over the same period.
Read more →New York City on pace for fewest rat sightings since the pandemic
New York City rat sightings fell 22% in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, putting the city on track for its lowest reported rat-sighting total since the pandemic, according to Sanitation Department data reported August 22, 2026. Reported sightings have now fallen year-over-year every month since November 2024, credited to the city's containerized-trash push begun under former mayor Eric Adams' 2022 "war on rats," which aims to cut off the food waste rodents rely on. A 2025 pilot that installed roughly 1,100 shared Empire Bins in West Harlem's Community Board 9 saw an even steeper 34% drop in reported sightings in that containerized area over the same period.
A decade of rewilded bison lifts Romanian mountain plant life by 30%
A decade after conservationists began releasing European bison into Romania's Tarcu Mountains in 2014, researchers report the herds have driven a 30% increase in plant biomass across the rewilded landscape, according to coverage published August 22, 2026. The bison, working with WWF Romania on what has become the largest bison reintroduction project in Europe, boost vegetation through grazing, trampling and seed dispersal in their fur and dung, which breaks up dense scrub and opens bare patches where new plant species can take hold, in turn supporting more insects, birds and small mammals. More than 200 bison now roam free in the Tarcu range and over 350 across Romania, after the species had been extinct in the wild there for nearly a century; separate research this year found the herds are also boosting the region's carbon storage capacity.
Read more →A decade of rewilded bison lifts Romanian mountain plant life by 30%
A decade after conservationists began releasing European bison into Romania's Tarcu Mountains in 2014, researchers report the herds have driven a 30% increase in plant biomass across the rewilded landscape, according to coverage published August 22, 2026. The bison, working with WWF Romania on what has become the largest bison reintroduction project in Europe, boost vegetation through grazing, trampling and seed dispersal in their fur and dung, which breaks up dense scrub and opens bare patches where new plant species can take hold, in turn supporting more insects, birds and small mammals. More than 200 bison now roam free in the Tarcu range and over 350 across Romania, after the species had been extinct in the wild there for nearly a century; separate research this year found the herds are also boosting the region's carbon storage capacity.
Late monsoon gives Great Barrier Reef "signs of recovery" from bleaching
A late-summer monsoon in 2026 cooled sea surface temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef in time to head off further coral bleaching, and new surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science show coral cover climbing back above long-term averages in the reef's northern and central regions, researchers reported around August 11-22, 2026. The northern zone, from Cape York to Cooktown, saw hard coral cover rise from 30% to 35.1%, a 16.7% increase, with the central region also improving, though the southern zone dipped slightly. Lead AIMS researcher Mike Emslie cautioned the gains are "small" but called them "promising signs of recovery from the really large declines" seen after the reef's 2024 mass bleaching event, with the reef's long-term outlook still tied to curbing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Read more →Late monsoon gives Great Barrier Reef "signs of recovery" from bleaching
A late-summer monsoon in 2026 cooled sea surface temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef in time to head off further coral bleaching, and new surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science show coral cover climbing back above long-term averages in the reef's northern and central regions, researchers reported around August 11-22, 2026. The northern zone, from Cape York to Cooktown, saw hard coral cover rise from 30% to 35.1%, a 16.7% increase, with the central region also improving, though the southern zone dipped slightly. Lead AIMS researcher Mike Emslie cautioned the gains are "small" but called them "promising signs of recovery from the really large declines" seen after the reef's 2024 mass bleaching event, with the reef's long-term outlook still tied to curbing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Common yeast supplement retrains the immune system to fight cancer in mice
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, publishing in Cell Reports and covered by ScienceDaily on August 21, 2026, found that a yeast beta-glucan dietary supplement reprogrammed early immune cells in the bone marrow of mice, producing stronger and longer-lasting anti-cancer immune responses against colorectal, skin and breast cancer cells. Mice fed standard or high-fat diets supplemented with yeast beta-glucan for four to twelve weeks showed boosted cancer-fighting immunity even when obese, and the supplement reversed immune damage that had persisted after the mice lost weight. The team says this is the first demonstration that oral supplementation alone, without invasive injections, can trigger this kind of deep immune training, though further studies are needed to see whether the effect holds in humans.
Read more →Common yeast supplement retrains the immune system to fight cancer in mice
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, publishing in Cell Reports and covered by ScienceDaily on August 21, 2026, found that a yeast beta-glucan dietary supplement reprogrammed early immune cells in the bone marrow of mice, producing stronger and longer-lasting anti-cancer immune responses against colorectal, skin and breast cancer cells. Mice fed standard or high-fat diets supplemented with yeast beta-glucan for four to twelve weeks showed boosted cancer-fighting immunity even when obese, and the supplement reversed immune damage that had persisted after the mice lost weight. The team says this is the first demonstration that oral supplementation alone, without invasive injections, can trigger this kind of deep immune training, though further studies are needed to see whether the effect holds in humans.